It was another big day for the Black History Museum currently under construction at St. Frederick Baptist Church, 301 Avenue N in Marble Falls. Rueben Ortiz and his crew from Ortiz Concrete Co. poured the slab for the museum on Tuesday, Feb. 20, as the man who has volunteered to help organize the framing looked on.
“We hope to be raising the wood in two weeks at the latest,” said David Nobles, who moved to Marble Falls with his family from Corpus Christi in October 2023. “I wanted to find a place to give my time, and when I met Reverend (George) Perry, I knew what I wanted to do.”
Perry is the minister of St. Frederick’s.
The church is building the museum on a pay-as-they-go basis. Fundraisers are ongoing, although the Black History Month event from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, at the church is free.
“We accept donations,” said Bessie Jackson, a community activist and church member, who is organizing the museum fundraising and content. “We want to be debt-free when we finish it.”
Jackson has been stockpiling memorabilia, artifacts, and information for the museum in the St. Frederick’s fellowship hall and conference room for years.
Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Co. in Marble Falls is selling the framing wood to the church at a discount. Highland Lakes Habitat for Humanity volunteers, along with some paid professionals, will provide the labor.
“Everything being done here is local,” Nobles said.
Nobles became interested in the project after hearing the Rev. Perry discuss the area’s history.
“This community has a beautiful, rich history,” he said. “My daughter is in the second grade in Marble Falls, and I’m looking forward to her classes coming to this museum to learn about it.”
Donations to the museum may be made via CashApp to $Stfrederick20.
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The Granite Shoals City Council is holding a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, to discuss and possibly take action on hiring an interim city manager. The council has been in negotiations with prospective candidate Sarah Novo since late January.
“Because of the Open Meetings Act, we have to do this in a public meeting,” Mayor Ron Munos explained to DailyTrib.com. “It’s just getting the details down. It’s kind of a cumbersome process.”
The council will meet in executive session to discuss negotiations with Novo, but any decisions will happen in open session.
The council typically only meets every other Tuesday at 6 p.m., but according to Munos, this special meeting was necessary to help move along negotiations with Novo.
Granite Shoals Fire Chief Tim Campbell has been the acting interim city manager since Peggy Smith resigned from the job on Jan. 9.
Novo had originally applied for the assistant city manager position when Smith was city manager. After Smith resigned, Novo asked to be considered for the interim job.
“We interviewed three different people, and she came out on top,” Munos said. “If we didn’t think she was right for the job, we wouldn’t be pursuing it.”
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A new volunteer program designed to lend a helping hand to Marble Falls Animal Control debuts in March. Volunteers will help feed, water, and socialize animals at the facility on Saturday and Sunday mornings. They will also clean kennels and assist Animal Control officials during adoption events.
“We’re really looking forward to having a public-private partnership that will allow us to invest in a facility that isn’t as limited as far as the services we offer as an animal control facility,” Marble Falls Police Chief Glenn Hanson told DailyTrib.com.
Hanson believes the added assistance is the first step toward the department’s greater goal of expanding its services for stray and homeless animals.
“We’re hoping in the future that we can have a regional center where several cities in the area can have a place that’s staffed while our Animal Control officers are simply doing pickup jobs and removing carcasses,” he said. “Hopefully, the volunteers can act as a staff and take care of the animals and do so much more for them than we can as an animal control facility.”
Brenda Morris and Mary Jo Callaway co-founded the group in response to the flood of strays that the city department receives.
“As the city continues to grow, so does the stray and homeless animal population,” Morris said.
Marble Falls Animal Control, 100 Avenue L, currently has a capacity of about 10 animals, Hanson said.
“We’re not a shelter,” he said. “A shelter provides a lot more services and does a lot more for the animals. The facility we have is kind of like a jail: There’s a stray, we pick it up. We try to find who it belongs to as quickly as possible, get it returned, adopted out, or move it to a rescue.”
Animal Control Officer Nate Harrell is the lone city employee responsible for the animals at the facility. His duties are all-encompassing.
“There aren’t enough hours in the day for one person to take care of the streets and be at the facility a few times a day to walk, potty, feed, water, and socialize with the animals,” Morris said.
The first of several volunteer calls for the new program was held on Feb. 16. Organizers hope to eventually have volunteers working daily at the facility.
“We are very lucky to have a community showing so much enthusiasm in helping with the program,” Morris said.
Interested volunteers may text Morris at 512-755-3906 or Callaway at 512-755-3840 or pick up a volunteer application at the Marble Falls Police Department, 606 Avenue N. All applicants must pass a background check. Those under 18 must have a parent/guardian sign off.
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Granite Shoals Patrol Officer Cory Jones was recently promoted to the rank of captain in the Mississippi Army National Guard. He is currently serving overseas in Task Force Thunder, 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, which is representing the United States in a multinational effort to train Ukrainian soldiers in their country’s war against Russia.
Jones has been with the Granite Shoals Police Department since May 2023 but was recently deployed with his National Guard unit. He was promoted from lieutenant to captain on Feb. 14. According to GSPD Capt. Chad Taliaferro, Jones will likely be gone until at least September, but his job will be waiting for him when he returns.
“He has a position here, and he’ll continue to have a position here,” Taliaferro told DailyTrib.com. “He is beyond good, he is great. It hurts to see him go, but on the other hand, what an honor to have him with the department.”
Jones was promoted at Grafenwöhr Training Center in Germany, where U.S. armed forces are based for Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine, the official name of the training operation.
Jones has served with the Mississippi Army National Guard for over 13 years, hails from Mississippi originally, and moved to Marble Falls with his wife and children from Shreveport, Louisiana, when he took the job with the Granite Shoals Police Department.
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The Star Republican Women of Horseshoe Bay are hosting a Llano County forum for GOP candidates from 1:30-3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, at Quail Point Lodge, 107 Twilight Lane in Horseshoe Bay. Tuesday is also the first day of early voting for the March 5 primary elections. Early voting ends March 1.
The winner of the District 53 race will face unopposed Democratic nominee Joe Herrera in November, but all of the other races ultimately will be determined by the Republican primary due to a lack of Democratic candidates.
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Ballots for the May 4 local elections are complete with the passing of the candidate filing deadline on Feb. 16. Early voting is April 22-30 for city and school board races.
Below is a list of candidates who have filed for city elections in Marble Falls, Granite Shoals, Burnet, Meadowlakes, Cottonwood Shores, and Highland Haven as well as the Marble Falls, Burnet, and Llano school boards.
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Brian Joseph Edwards, 40, of Llano County faces 21 charges relating to the possession of child pornography. He is being held at the Llano County Jail on $740,000 in bonds while the investigation continues.
According to a media release from the Llano County Sheriff’s Office, Edwards was arrested on Feb. 9 after law enforcement received a tip about possible illicit materials at his home. The release states that “investigators obtained evidence that led to warrants” for his arrest.
Charges include 10 counts of possession or promotion of child pornography, nine counts of sexual performance by a child, one count of possession of lewd visual material depicting a child, and one count of invasive video recording.
Possession or promotion of child pornography and sexual performance of a child are third-degree felonies punishable by up to $10,000 in fines and two to 10 years in prison.
Possession of lewd visual material depicting a child and invasive video recording are state jail felonies punishable by up to $10,000 in fines and 180 days to two years in prison.
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Check agendas to see if the following government meetings are in person, virtual, or both. Agendas are posted 72 hours before a meeting so are not always ready by the time this list is published. Check links for more information.
presentation of the 2023 Commercial Community Pride Award
financial assistance and participation request to the Texas Water Development Board in an amount not to exceed $25.8 million for the wastewater treatment plant project
discussion and action regarding a development agreement for a multifamily development across the street from Baylor Scott and White Hospital on Texas 71
discussion regarding the Mission Hill-Mormon Mill intersection
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Most government offices, schools, banks, and post offices in the Highland Lakes will be closed in observance of Presidents’ Day on Monday, Feb. 19. The federal holiday celebrates the near birthdays of past presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
Some entities are open, however, including the Llano Independent School District and city offices in Marble Falls and Meadowlakes.
Closed are:
Burnet Consolidated and Marble Falls ISDs
Burnet and Llano county government offices
City offices for Llano, Bertram, Horseshoe Bay, Highland Haven, and Sunrise Beach Village
Banks
Post offices
Presidents’ Day history and profiles
Presidents’ Day falls on the third Monday in February and honors the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln. The holiday was created in 1885 specifically for Washington’s birthday on Feb. 22. The memory of Lincoln was still fresh in American minds in the late 1800s, and the day became a dual celebration of both presidents, with Lincoln’s birthday falling on Feb. 12.
The Uniform Monday Holiday Law, passed in 1971, shifted most holidays to the nearest Monday to ensure three-day weekends, which resulted in Presidents’ Day moving to the third Monday in February rather than Washington’s exact birthday.
Here are simple profiles of the legendary statesmen:
George Washington
Born on Feb. 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Died on Dec. 14, 1799, at 67 in Mount Vernon, Virginia, due to medical complications from a throat infection.
He was married to Martha Washington for 40 years but had no children. Historians suggest that George’s bout with tuberculosis or Martha’s severe case of measles might have prevented them from conceiving. They did raise Martha’s two children from a previous marriage.
Washington was 6 feet 2 inches tall. The average height of an American man at the time is believed to have been 5-foot-9.
He had little formal education and was mostly self-taught and homeschooled by his mother, Mary Ball Washington.
Washington saw combat in the French and Indian War and personally led men into battle during the American Revolution.
Abraham Lincoln
Born on Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky, (now LaRue County). Died on April 15, 1865, in Washington, D.C., the first American president to be assassinated.
He was married to Mary Todd Lincoln for 23 years, and they had four sons together.
Lincoln is the tallest American president to date at 6 feet 4 inches (without the hat).
He, too, had little formal education and was mostly taught at home, but he did go on to become sufficiently “learned” and work as a successful lawyer.
Lincoln volunteered for the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War against a coalition of Native Americans and British but never actually saw combat.
He was a famously skilled wrestler and is said to have won over 300 no-rules matches and suffered just one defeat.
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